Kyle of Tongue

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Kyle of Tongue, a narrow sea-loch or firth in Tongue parish, Sutherland, dividing the northern district of that parish into nearly equal parts. Opening from the North Sea at Ellan-nan-Ron, and containing in its mouth the small, low Rabbit Islands, it penetrates 9¼ miles south-south-westward, its breadth contracting from 2¾ miles to almost a point. It is encinctured by grand scenery, with the magnificent mountains of Ben Hope (3040 feet) and Ben Loyal (3504) overhanging its head; has shifting sandbanks and small depth of water, yet offers safe anchorage to even the largest vessels at the Rabbit Islands; expands, on the W side at these islands, into the beautiful, well-sheltered, smooth-beached Bay of Talmin, one of the chief fishing stations on the N coast of Scotland; and forms, on the E side, the creek of Scullamie, the retreat of a few fishing boats, easily convertible into a good small harbour.—Ord. Sur., sh. 114, 1880.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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